THE THING ABOUT COURAGE
What comes to mind when you think of someone courageous? A fearless warrior, a brave history maker, a single mom who raised three kids on her own, a teenage boy who worked up the strength to stand up to his bully at school, a president who is not easily shaken from his beliefs and moral standards
I think that as kids we imagine virtues like courage very differently than they really are. You begin to walk out these traits in the ¨real world¨ and find yourself a little taken back by how different it all is from what you had imagined. I always thought courage meant not being afraid. My parents are some of the most courageous people I know, I’ve never seen them be afraid of anything or anyone. But as I grow up, I’ve come to think that maybe they have felt fear. Moving your family to a different country, twice, is daunting. Determining to fill an auditorium with x amount of people is scary. Providing for your family when the economy around you is falling is hard. But they’ve lived by Hebrews 10:38-39 which says, ¨But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul¨. I’m sure at some point they’ve felt afraid, but even though they feel it they are not moved by it, they are moved by faith. My parents’ lives teach me that the secret to courage is to do it anyway.
There is a quote from one of my favorite movies (A Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff) that I think is very fitting for today’s blog post: “Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game”. What game have we let fear keep us from playing? Is it a new job, a family, freedom in your thoughts, losing weight? Fear is such a liar!! But it’s a good liar, and until we learn how to not fall into its traps, it’ll keep us from playing the game of our lives.
God has been doing some gnarly things over the weekend. He surfaced things that were in my heart and past that needed to be confronted. Confrontation is actually something I´m working on this year, as my personality type tends to avoid it. Confrontation is uncomfortable for me, but discomfort results in growth. Do I like the discomfort? No. Do I want the growth that comes from it? Yes. So now the discomfort has value and it becomes purposeful, to the point I can almost enjoy it.
There are battles God wants us to face. We need to understand that Jesus has already obtained the victory over the enemy, but the battles God allows us to face are not for overcoming the devil, but ourselves. This is so that every day we look more and more like Jesus. Forgive me for my honesty, but I think I got used to walking in the victory my pastors and parents have paved for me. Yes, I’ve experienced personal battles and brokenness, but I feel like God is drafting me into His army (Isaiah 13:4). And I feel a little scared. It’s time to put on my own combat boots and camo jacket, take up the weapons I´ve been trained to use and fight. Fight the thoughts, voices, emotions, and situations I avoided for so long. The cool thing is that I´m not going into this to find out if I´m strong enough. I know I´m not. but that makes it even better. It makes it easier to put my confidence in Jesus who already obtained the victory for me through the cross. You might ask yourself: if Jesus already won then why do we have to fight? Because He overcame the devil, his scheme and the power of death. But we need to overcome ourselves and the things of this world that work to make us forget who we were created to be.
Dear friend, courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is feeling nervous, but jumping anyway because you know your parachute won’t fail you. Courage is not knowing how to fly the plane, but doing it anyway because Jesus knows how and will teach you if you listen. God´s got a funny way of doing things, His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are certainly not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). We can either let that stop us from living the abundant life He’s promised (John 10:10), or we can shift that fear into excitement and follow our Good Shepherd.
There is a battle He wants you to fight, and He’ll wait till you do. You need to know that you’re stepping into the ring already a winner thanks to Jesus. So put on the gloves, confront what the enemy has used to accuse you and come out a winner. Jesus is not afraid nor offended by our condition, His blood has already covered it. Because of His blood, we have forgiveness of sins, we have the promise of peace and joy, and most important: the fullness of the Holy Spirit. It is He who reminds us of what Jesus has done for us and it is He who empowers us to fight the good fight and make our Father proud. That being said, I´ll be in the ring if you need me, see you on the winning side.
With love of love, your friend always,
Nadia Kay
